University of Illinois puts $450 million medical center project on hold

FromThe Chicago Sun-Times: The University of Illinois Medical Center is mothballing plans to expand its campus on the Near West Side of Chicago. The school has spent four years drafting plans for a nine-story, $450 million patient care center, which would have been the centerpiece of a $650 million campus overhaul. But declines in the state’s bond rating and a dim outlook for direct state support of hospital improvements have put the project on hold. Hospital officials instead are opting to spend $40 million on repairs to the existing 500-bed facility in Chicago.